Hiking Trip Report: Little Si, Boulder Garden Loop

Hike Date: 02-23-2013
Distance (Roundtrip): 5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1200 ft
Highest Point: 1576 ft
Little Si Hiking Guide

Little Si

Little Si is one of the more popular hikes in the Snoqualmie area. Even on the rainiest of days, the parking lot (and the overflow lot) can completely fill up before noon. Today was no different. The parking lot is located on the left after crossing the red bridge on Mt.Si Road. A Discovery Pass is required! Being one of the more popular hikes, this parking lot is often patrolled. So, I wouldn't take any chances. Despite the gray skies and rain, it was a perfect day for a hike!

We started off at the trailhead at about 10am. The first part of the trail is a good warm-up, climbing steeply through the trees on a narrow path. It's well-kept and easy to follow. Though it was wet, there wasn't much mud. After a thigh-burning half-mile, the trail forks. To the left, Little Si. To the right, the Boulder Garden Loop. We decided to head towards the summit of Little Si before heading back to explore the Boulder Garden Loop.

The trail begins to open up with views of Mt. Si appearing through the trees. At this point, it also begins to level out. Since water easily collects here, the trail was really muddy. Weaving through trees and large boulders, we eventually reached the rock-climbing wall. Many climbers frequent Little Si to scale its cliffs. There were none today. We took some time to explore the large rocks before continuing on to the summit.

In the last mile, the trail gets quite steep. If you weren't sweating before, you might work one up now. As we continued up the trail, the wind picked up and it began to snow heavily. Views of Mt. Si were on our left and we could clearly see the snow line. The trees finally opened up and we had reached the summit of Little Si.

The summit offers views of North Bend, WA. On a cloudy day like this, we were lucky to be able to see anything. The rocks at the top make for a great spot to have lunch and re-hydrate. By this time, the wind and snow had made the top less desirable as a rest stop. So, we snapped some photos, sat down for a bit, and made our way back down.

Photos

Boulder Garden Loop

On the way back down, we took some time to explore the Boulder Garden Loop. It's a 1.5 mile detour from the Little Si trail. We thought it would be a nice and easy loop off and back on the main trail.

We were surprised to find a steep climb all the way to the top of the loop. The trail switches back and forth through thick forest. At the very top, the trail makes its way through two large boulders. There are no mountain views, but hiking through huge moss-covered rocks was a pleasant change of scenery.

Eventually, the Boulder Garden Loop meets with the Little Si trail. The signs were very helpful in getting us back to the parking lot.

In total, it took us a little less than an hour to get to the summit of Little Si, and another hour to get back down through the Boulder Garden Loop. We were back at the car by noon.

Photos